Stories

Downtown-Airport Bus Takes Flight

Post Date: Thursday, May 19, 2011

Starting soon, you'll be able to take an express Calgary Transit bus from downtown to the Calgary International Airport!

On Monday night, Council approved my Innovation Fund request to conduct a six month pilot Bus Rapid Transit line connecting downtown via Centre Street, 64th Avenue, Deerfoot Trail and Airport Trail to and from the Calgary International Airport. The bus is expected to carry around 1100 passengers a day. If successful, the route will become permanent.

Calgary's airport serves 12.6 million passengers a year and employs over 15,000 people - but currently does not have a direct public transit connection to downtown.

The line will run from 5:00am to midnight 7 days a week at a minimum 30 minute frequency. There will be a limited number of stops along the way so that passengers can connect to the route from other existing transit lines. The trip will take about 40 minutes. Regular fares will apply for trips heading to the Airport. An $8 fare will apply for trips from the Airport terminal toward downtown - this may be sold in the form of a day pass, which will allow passengers to use the fare all day. Any person with a monthly transit pass can ride the route at no additional cost.

In addition to the implementation of Route 100 from Mcknight-Westwinds station to the airport, this pilot BRT line helps fulfill my promise to provide more direct routes and better public transit service to the airport. I'm also excited to see how fast this route has gone from conception to implementation.

The Innovation Fund I introduced at the beginning of my term is encouraging the City of Calgary to test out new ideas to improve how the City works and improves the lives of Calgarians.